Question

A high school soccer team is going to Columbus, Ohio to see a professional soccer game. A coordinate grid is superimposed on a highway map of Ohio. The high school is at point (3, 4) and the stadium in Columbus is at point (7, 1). The map shows a highway rest stop halfway between the cities. What are the coordinates of the rest stop? What is the approximate distance between the high school and the stadium? (One unit = 10.9 miles.)

Answer 1

The point halfway between the two cities would be the midpoint, which is found by averaging the x and y coordinates. In this case the point would be ((3+7)/2, (4+1)/2) = (5, 2.5). The distance between the stadium and the high school can be found using the distance formula and then multiplying by 10.9 miles. That would get us 10.9sqrt((7-3)^2+(4-1)^2) = 54.5 miles if I did that mental math right.